The Charlatans: Exclusive Interview.
January 26th saw the release of The Charlatans’ new record "Modern Nature" and we had the chance to do an exclusive interview with Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess. With almost three decades of Indie status behind them the band have released 12 studio albums to date and they are, without a shadow of a doubt, one of Britain's finest.
In this interview, Tim Burgess discusses recording their new album, his favourite tunes, the sound of Modern Nature, Paul Weller and future plans.
KUL BRITANIA: IT'S BEEN ALMOST 25 YEARS SINCE YOU RELEASED YOUR FIRST ALBUM "SOME FRIENDLY", WHAT IS LIKE TO BE IN A BAND FOR SO MANY YEARS? AND ARE YOU SO FOND OF MAKING MUSIC TODAY AS YOU WERE THEN?
TIM BURGESS: I'm just as excited about making music now as I was then. Not sure if it's possible but I think maybe even more so. Yesterday I sent out a link on twitter so people could listen to it and instantly say what they thought. In 1990 there wasn't that kind of instant worldwide thing. We were excited because we were younger and everything was new but the world changes around you and it's up to all of us to stay passionate about what we do.
KB: REGARDING YOUR NEW ALBUM MODERN NATURE, IT'S BEEN ALMOST FIVE YEARS SINCE THE LAST CHARLATANS' RELEASE, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE BACK NOW WITH A NEW RECORD THESE DAYS?
TB: I released a solo album in between and went on tour with that so The Charlatans may not have been recording but I was and we played live all the time in those 5 years. The album has just been released so there's TV shows to do and we're getting ready for a uk tour and some dates in Japan - maybe it's like an iceberg, people only see a bit of it but we're always doing something. It's just not so much in the public eye.
KB:TIM, THE FIRST SINGLE YOU UNVEILED FROM THE NEW ALBUM AND THE FIRST SINCE THE DEATH OF JON BROOKES, WAS 'TALKING IN TONES' (WHICH IS A GREAT TRACK, PEOPLE JUST LOVED IT). HOW SPECIAL WAS THAT FIRST RELEASE AND WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WRITE THAT SONG, WAS IT JUST YOU WRITING THE SONG OR YOU DID IT WITH THE REST OF THE BAND?
TB: We met up at our studio at the beginning if last year. Our first time back there to record since we lost Jon. His drums were set up in the main room and he'd recorded some ideas. There was snow in the ground outside but we wanted the songs to be summery and uplifting. Around the same time that Jon died, I became a Dad for the first trine. It was a hugely emotional time for all if us.
Once we had all the songs recorded it seemed an obvious choice to release first. We filmed the video with a young actor called Nico Mirallegro and that was the starting point to sharing Modern Nature with everyone
